Marta Paterlini

TRIESTE

LA PELLE CHE PENSA

Undervalued and taken for granted – what has become of touch, the simplest and oldest of human acts? Touch conceals a whole world: it is a universal language, a dialogue between brain and skin, an act of care and a form of resistance in an age when bodies are drifting apart. Central to the myths of the Odyssey and examined by philosophy ever since Aristotle, touch is at last being studied by neuroscience, which reveals its essence: from the caresses that ease pain in palliative care to the nerve fibres that turn a massage into well-being; from the fragility of those who shut themselves off from contact to the skin hunger that breeds mental distress. In society, touch reflects different ideas of the body, of identity and of culture: the synthetic skin of robotics, social touch, the evolution of greetings, medical handling, no-touch policies in schools, and research on the Piezo channels of Nobel laureate Ardem Patapoutian and the C-tactile fibres of affective touch. These are the pieces of the mosaic that neuroscientist and science writer Marta Paterlini assembles in “La pelle che pensa” (The Thinking Skin), showing how touch today is suspended between taboo and necessity, fear of contact and a desperate need for connection. Because to touch is to care, to speak, to exist.

Incontro con l’autrice finalista

Marta Paterlini

neurobiologist and science journalist

Modera

Nicla Panciera

science journalist

Trieste Next

LA PELLE CHE PENSA

TRIESTE NEXT PRIZE - SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR